The Blazing Fire

I just finished reading a book by C.J. Mahaney called Living the Cross Centered Life. Mahaney combined two of his previous books, The Cross Centered Life and Christ Our Mediator, adding some new material.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul spoke with passion about the cross: "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." And "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..."

Mahaney urges us to not "move on" from the cross, but to, as Charles Spurgeon said, "Abide hard by the cross and search the mystery of His wounds." He seeks to carry on the legacy of, among others, Martin Luther, who said, "The gospel cannot be preached and heard enough, for it cannot be grasped well enough. ... Moreover, our greatest task is to keep you faithful to this article and to bequeath this treasure to you when we die."

Mahaney states three common tendencies that keep us from putting the cross of Christ at the center of our lives:

1. Subjectivism - "basing our view of God on our changing feelings and emotions."
2. Legalism - "basing our relationship with God on our own performance."
3. Condemnation - "being more focused on our sin than on God's grace."

The book is a short read - a small book, roughly 7x5 inches, and only 176 pages - but not necessarily a quick read because of all that Mahaney packs in to his writing. I highly recommend taking some time to read this book.